Eshka
Background Enslaved A Revantusk troll who had been kept as a slave in her youth by a band of xenophobic human bandits. When the bandits once left the young troll alone at camp, Eshka was rescued by a sympathetic farmer named Raymond Woodhall who lived near Southshore who offered to set the troll free. Having been a slave for as long as she could remember, Eshka was terrified of the idea of being free. Edward opted to take Eshka home, introducing her to his wife Mabel. The goodhearted elderly couple decided to adopt the troll, raising Eshka as their daughter. The troll girl adopted many human tendencies and beliefs over the next several years and came to think of Edward and Mabel as her real family. It wasn't the Horde ransacked much of the Hillsbrad Foothills, destroying the Woodhall farm and killing Eshka's elderly foster parents in the process, that she found herself lost and directionless. With the Alliance not allowing her to step near their cities simply because she was a troll, and with her hatred towards the Horde for taking her family and home away from her, Eshka had nowhere to turn. Born twenty seven years ago, the young Revantusk troll known as Eshka endured a troubled time as a child, as her parents and mentors were slain by bandits from Hillsbrad before she was taken and forced into slavery by the bandits. This kidnapping occurred at such a young age that it was among the earliest memories the Revantusk troll possessed. From the age of four up until she was ten, Eshka remained slave to the bandits who deemed her their property. Frequently made to do horrendous things for her apparent owners, the young Eshka had nothing to compare her life to, but even she knew that this was not the way things were to supposed to be, that this was not a regular lifestyle. As much as she resented being a servant, she was hesitant to escape due to simply not knowing what else there was out there, and the concept frightened her. On many nights, the young Eshka would stare up at the stars from where she would be chained down like an animal, contemplating what else there was beyond the life she knew. Over the years Eshka was kept in the service of the bandits, she had gradually started to learn the common tongue. Of course, this was almost necessary since she was likely to receive harsh beatings if she did not do what was asked of her immediately. It was, after all, in her best interest to learn the words her masters spoke to her if she was to have any hope of one day avoiding the beatings altogether. Fortunately for Eshka, her gradual learning of the common tongue is what led to her salvation... Shortly after what she figured was the approximate time of her tenth birthday, Eshka was left chained in camp as the bandits had eagerly departed in a rush to hunt the largest mountain lion that they had ever seen. It was at this time that a local elderly farmer had happened upon the camp and noticed Eshka chained and confined to the camp. After approaching and testing her grasp of the common tongue. From there, he quickly learned what was going on, that Eshka had been the bandits' slave for several years and had been horribly mistreated. The farmer offered to set Eshka free to rejoin her people, but she had no idea who they were or where they were. Frightened at the prospect of even returning to a home she didn't know, the elderly farmer reached out with the goodness of his heart and offered to take her home until he could figure out what to do with her. Eshka cautiously agreed, and the elderly man retreived a large pair of farming shears which he struggled with for several minutes to free the young troll from her shackles. Eventually he did so, wasting no time in scooping Eshka up and departing with her as quickly as he could. Farm Life What was thought to be temporary ended up becoming far more, as the stay on the farm ended up lasting nearly seventeen years. It was when the elderly farmer, Raymond Woodhall, brought Eshka home to his wife Mabel that a discussion occurred to decide what they were going to do with the troll. They both decided that they couldn't live with turning such a young child loose on the wilderness and opted to adopt her, raising Eshka as their daughter. It took some time at first for Eshka to be broken of the bad habits that had been driven into her by her former owners, but the elderly couple were able to instill their own beliefs into Eshka over time to transform her into an individual who understood what her former life was and that every aspect of it was wrong. Nobody could tell her what to do or keep her somewhere, Eshka always had a choice. These revelations opened her eyes to the possibilities around her, and the lessons provided by Raymond and Mabel taught her what parents were, and what a family was. Ignoring the racial differences, Eshka quickly came to feel like a biological daughter to the two. The human values that had been instilled in Eshka resulted in her thinking of the two as her parents. Raymond and Mabel had ceased to exist, instead being replaced with Mom and Dad. As the years rolled by, Raymond and Mabel had completely stopped seeing an orphaned troll in their home and instead only saw their daughter who tehy each loved with all their hearts. Eshka returned this love in full as she fully immersed herself in the teachings of her parents. With every passing year, Eshka more and more became what could only be described as a human inside of a troll's body. Raymond would teach Eshka all about managing the farm and the duties it entailed while also giving her lessons about recent history dating back to the First and Second Wars. Then there was Mabel, who taught Eshka everything she had always wanted to pass down to a daughter. Mabel taught Eshka how to dress, how to do her hair and apply makeup, and how to perform duties around the house such as cooking, cleaning and knitting. Eshka's large fingers made it difficult for her to knit in the same style of Mabel but, with enough practice, she was able to adapt. With the elderly couple being retired members of the Church of the Holy Light, they had even offered to teach Eshka all there was to know about the religion. Eshka had anxiously accepted and, as she learned more and more about the Light and its philosophy, it quickly became a way of life for her. The Unraveling Over the years, there were attempts to have the locals of Southshore recognize Eshka as the daughter of Raymond and Mabel, but she was only ever recognized as "the troll living with the old Woodhalls." With the Alliance not wishing to recognize Eshka as one of its citizens, and with Eshka well aware of what the Horde was up to in Hillsbrad and fiercely being against it, it seemed as if there possibly wouldn't be a place for Eshka outside of the small farm she lived on with her parents. Unfortunately, this would all be discovered far too soon. It all happened without warning. The Horde attack, being primarily carried out by the Forsaken, cut a swath through the Hillsbrad Foothills. The towns of Hillsbrad and Southshore both fell to the unexpected attacks, and small outlying farms were next. When the Forsaken came to raze the Woodhall farm, Eshka had forced her parents inside and fought the Forsaken tooth and nail to protect her family and home. She was quickly outnumbered and rendered unconscious as the farm was razed and the elderly Raymond and Mabel slaughtered. When Eshka came to, she found herself alone on the ruined property. Everything she had grown to love with all her heart had been destroyed, leaving her without any idea what to do. Knowing that the Alliance wasn't particularly keen on accepting trolls, and with her hatred for the Horde being just as strong as any human's, Eshka was left without a home or a place to turn to for help, prompting her to only one thing. Wander. Category:Troll Category:Revantusk Troll Category:Neutral Organizations